Being a Single(homeschooling)Parent …

( My take on it after 2 years)
Are there any struggles that come to mind?

Yes, some…..These might be a few….

It’s all on your shoulders.
You have to work, cook, clean, teach, be there to just listen while they have so much to say on what is so very important to them.

You have no other person that is in this with you to unload on.
You need to keep it all in order, ensure that you are in fact not failing your children….avoiding the pit of comparison of other people’s children who are heading in a TOTALLY different direction than are yours.
You have to remember one size does not fit all, and not only do you need to remember that, YOURS is the ONLY voice to remind you of that.
Feeling like if you take time for yourself, you are taking away from your kids.

MOST IMPORTANT :Knowing that you will screw up and it’s okay…(and realizing that YOU have to tell yourself because you don’t have a partner to remind you of this very important fact.)

There’s some humor in it all too…..

My Daughter: “ Mom, remember when I told you about that person I met in my game who homeschools too, they live in the Mountain Time Zone. Did you know that it is 3pm there right now.” ( It was 5pm at the time of this discussion).

My Response: “ Oh….she’s homeschooled? I had no idea, I’m happy to see you have determined what time it is based on our work on time zones though.”

Daughter: “ Mom, We had a whole talk the other night when you were laying in bed about how cool it is she homeschools. We talked about lots of things that night.”

My Response: “ Was I awake?”

Parenting a 16-year-old and a 10-year-old is the most AWESOME thing in the world.

I am grateful to have them in my life.

There are times when they are both out for the night at a friend’s house and I am home alone. The first hour I am filled with the idea of having quiet “me” time.Although, It does not last long….

By the 2nd hour I am feeling the awkward silence in our house, the stillness that comes with the lack of energy in the space. The bickering between the siblings that I have given up being the referee of. The dishes that seem to magically appear in the sink, the shoes and coats left strewn about in our tiny home. The music playing loudly from my son’s room, or the sound of his guitar. The sound of laughter from my daughter when she is skyping with friends and having so much fun. The discussions about upcoming music events, purchases that one of them want to make on-line, their plans and goals they have for the near future, their heart breaks and their feelings about things that are happening in their lives. The talks about how certain situations cause them to react or feel a certain way. Talks about life in general…….

THESE are the moments that I do in fact cherish. THESE are the moments that I know I am doing it right, a home is a home with one or two parents.

It is about providing the love, the listening, the caring.

Yes, there are times when I have worked many hours and I come home and have to listen to them unload about things that are so important to them in that moment, then have to straighten up the house a bit more than what they may have already done and right before I head to bed,

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2 thoughts on “Being a Single(homeschooling)Parent …”

As a single mom I have had the “Was I awake” conversations. Yes, I’m tired and ready to throw the towel in at times. But then I think of them and suck it up. But the time we spend together and watching them learn makes it so worth every sleep deprived moment.